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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28292892">Five New Visitors Lara Allowed To Come In (and One She Kicked Out)</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Potkanka/pseuds/Potkanka'>Potkanka</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Christmas at Lara's [4]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Tomb Raider (Video Games)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Christmas, F/M, More characters to be added, five-plus-one fic, not great parenting but they're trying</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-11 00:20:26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,282</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28292892</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Potkanka/pseuds/Potkanka</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>It's a tradition by now that Lara invites people over for Christmas, but the number seems to be growing again... and while they might not stay for long, the question is whether Lara allows the new visitors in at all.</p><p>Lara and Kurtis also get a metaphorical cold shower when it comes to their parenting, Verdilet hides a secret Kurtis is determined to find out, and there might be more family drama than Lara has ever wished to go through.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Lara Croft/Kurtis Trent</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Christmas at Lara's [4]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1465582</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Five New Visitors Lara Allowed To Come In (and One She Kicked Out)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>It's the fourth year and once again, I won't be able to post this fanfic on time for Christmas, so I'll at least post the first chapter on Christmas Eve. Hopefully it won't take me half a year to post the rest, but I'm quite busy now. I have actually almost half the fic written by now! ...but most of that is by hand, I need to rewrite it into the computer first.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“I’m not saying it’s a very good idea, only that it’s not necessarily a horrible idea,” Lara reasoned. Kurtis was looking at her with his arms crossed, but despite his better judgement, he was considering it. They were standing in the main hall, Lara dressed warmly and with long coils of Christmas lights slung over her shoulder. Kurtis was only in his pants and a shirt.</p><p>Rosie was standing next to them, her head tilted back and turning back and forth as she watched her parents discuss her fate. Not her fate, Kurtis mentally corrected himself, that sounded too ominous. This could be probably fine. Maybe.</p><p>Kurtis looked down at Rosie, dressed to the nines in her winter overalls and a woolly hat, and couldn’t help smiling at how cute she looked. Rosie smiled back.</p><p>“So you agree,” Lara guessed.</p><p>“No,” Kurtis turned back at her, one finger raised to stop her from responding. “But… maybe she should get a taste of some proper heights so she’s ready if we go climbing somewhere.”</p><p>“That means you agree,” Lara reiterated.</p><p>“No, I don’t, it <em>is</em> a horrible idea,” Kurtis waved his hands. “Just not the most dangerous one ever, after we managed to leave Rosie alone next to a lit fireplace.”</p><p>It was hard to notice, but Kurtis has acquired enough experience and skill to discern the subtle cringe in Lara’s face at the reminder. He himself still felt like a bucket of cold water got poured on him whenever he thought about it.</p><p>“Hey, whatcha doing?” Zip sauntered from the kitchen and their flashback to a near-disaster was broken.</p><p>“Zi!” Rosie shouted, arms flying up at the pronouncement.</p><p>“Heyyy little monster, going out?” Zip grinned at her.</p><p>“Ma!” Rosie announced loudly and grabbed Lara’s leg.</p><p>“Going out with mom?” Zip asked, nodding. Kurtis could pinpoint the exact moment Zip noticed the Christmas lights and put two and two together.</p><p>“Errr, Lara, you’re not gonna...”</p><p>“See, horrible idea,” Kurtis stabbed his thumb towards Zip.</p><p>“I’ll be watching her,” Lara said as if that was all that was needed to keep track of the little motor mouse that was their toddler daughter. “And there’s no ice she can slip on.”</p><p>“Yeah because she doesn’t trip over her own feet every time she gets excited and starts running around,” Kurtis frowned.</p><p>“You could get that baby-leash-thing?” Zip offered, but clearly not very convinced of the idea himself.</p><p>Kurtis grimaced. “Or not. She’d end up dangling like a yo-yo and it probably wouldn’t be good for her spine.”</p><p>“Better than falling off the roof?” Zip reasoned a little faintly.</p><p>“I guess I can keep watch and catch her,” Kurtis offered an idea and the moment the words left his mouth, he knew he’d fallen into a trap. He groaned, a palm sliding down his face. “That’s what you wanted me to do anyway, didn’t ya?”</p><p>“What safer way is there?” Lara asked without a hint of shame. “I can still watch her, but if I want to hang up the lights, I need to take my eyes away from her at some point.”</p><p>And taking eyes away from Rosie was a very, <em>very</em> bad idea. Even without a fireplace nearby. No! Kurtis wasn’t thinking about this again. He focused on Rosie, now a little impatient, or maybe getting too hot in her winter clothes inside the house. She was squirming a bit, tugging at her hat. They had to decide quickly or she’d get cranky.</p><p>Kurtis gave a defeated sigh. “Fine. I’ll watch her. But,” he added quickly, taking his jacket from the coat rack, “I can’t see her from the ground if she’s too far on the roof, so you still gotta watch out too or she might wander away and drop from another side.”</p><p>Lara looked suitably smug, having won the argument, but her face twisted in a faint frown at Kurtis’ last demand. “Hm, I can see your point. And if you were up there with us, you couldn’t stop her fall once she was over the edge...”</p><p>“Who let you two be parents,” Zip mumbled besides them. Kurtis and Lara ignored him, they were dealing with <em>real</em> problems here.</p><p>“Yeah, so she gotta stay close to you so if she’s falling, it’s from the side I can actually see.”</p><p>“And Marie’s not here yet to watch her on the roof. Winston could hardly do it...”</p><p>Kurtis saw Lara’s eyes move to the side, just as Zip started backing away rapidly. “No, nope, no way, leave me out of this!” the end of the sentence was shouted to be heard, as Zip was already halfway up the stairs and still retreating.</p><p>“Ma!” Rosie moaned unhappily and pulled off her hat.</p><p>“Yeah, definitely too hot,” Kurtis commented, taking the hat and putting it back on Rosie’s hat, then quickly took her into his arms and made for the front door. Lara followed.</p><p>Outside, Kurtis kept holding his daughter, who was still fussy, but also now grimacing against the suddenly chilly air.</p><p>“So the two of us will have to make do I guess,” he turned to Lara.</p><p>“It should be doable,” Lara was hefting the coils better onto her shoulder. “If it’s too much, we can always take Rosa back home before I finish.”</p><p>Kurtis, nodded at that and handed Rosie over. “So you’re going up?”</p><p>“No reason to wait,” Lara smirked and went towards the propped up ladder. Kurtis watched them ascend, uncertainty rising with every rung. He walked closer in case Rosie decided to not wait at all for her possibly rapid descend. But soon, both were safely up on the roof. Well, safely… they weren’t falling down, that was about it.</p><p>Kurtis quickly dismissed a worry about <em>both </em>of them falling at the same time. He’d catch them both, he was fairly sure, but just thinking about it felt like tempting fate.</p><p>Rosie was making unsure first steps on the roof tiles, Lara watching her carefully. It was chilly outside, but as Lara said, no ice down there, so probably none on the roof either. The weather was very dry so far, no snow had fallen, unlike the same time previous year, and the thin layer of frost couldn’t melt and form any slippery surfaces, when the sun was permanently hidden behind grey clouds. If only those clouds could drop a snowflake or two, it was nearly December.</p><p>Rosie squealed, obviously getting the hang of walking on this new strange, tilted ground. Then she tripped. Kurtis startled, both hands flying up, with a subconscious step forward, but she was far enough from the edge. She actually fell away from it – uphill, so to speak. Before Lara could even walk up to her, Rosie was climbing back to her feet, forging forward until Kurtis couldn’t see her. Lara dropped the Christmas lights by the edge and walked beyond his vision as well.</p><p>Well, as long as she kept a good eye on her.</p><p>Kurtis was watching the roof with utmost attention, favouring the part where he’d last seen them, but checking all the other visible edges as well. They better not go to the other side completely.</p><p>His concentration was interrupted by something he dismissed at first, but then it became more intrusive – or rather louder. He allowed a small part of his mind to focus on it and identify the disturbance, quickly recognizing… clopping of hooves.</p><p>Vlad? Wasn’t he a little early? But who else would be arriving on a horse?</p><p>Maybe it wasn’t a visitor but a random horse rider passing by.</p><p>Alright, whatever, Kurtis had better things to think about now, such as when were Lara and Rosie re-emerging from their rooftop adventures to finally hang the lights and get the little one back to the safety of solid ground.</p><p>The clopping intensified, the rider must have been just about reaching the front gate. And the it stopped. Oh great.</p><p>“Vlad?” Kurtis called without turning around. “Is that you?”</p><p>“Whooo else would it be?” answered back the loud, slightly echoing voice. And pissy, let’s not forget pissy. It was Vlad alright.</p><p>Kurtis dared to wave his hand backwards to unlock the gate. Using telekinesis on things he couldn’t see was tricky, luckily this didn’t take much effort as he knew the exact position and mechanism and could picture the movement as clearly in his mind as if he was looking at it. “’Kay, come in, I can’t take my eyes off the roof.”</p><p>“And why would that be?” asked a new voice, startling Kurtis. Dammit, he was too strung out to react calmly to any surprises.</p><p>“Father Patrick?” he asked.</p><p>“Indeed,” the new but familiar voice answered, there was a thud on the gravel as someone – Father Patrick, probably – dismounted the horse. Had he been riding with Vlad? No wonder the demon sounded pissy. Not that he didn’t sound pissy often, but this would be an understandable reason, he didn’t let just anyone ride his demonic <em>steed</em>.</p><p>“I am sorry for startling you, good morning, Kurtis,” the priest continued.</p><p>“Eh, it’s fine, I just gotta focus.”</p><p>“On the roof? If I may distract you for a moment and ask again, why is that?”</p><p>“The lights aren’t there, idiot,” Vlad growled, “the child must be on the roof to hang them.”</p><p>Somehow, Vlad still hasn’t gotten over calling Lara “the child”, which was usually kind of funny, but in this case he was more right about a child on the roof than he knew.</p><p>“Ah, that sounds like something Lara would enjoy,” Father answered calmly. Kurtis spared a thought on whether he didn’t mind Vlad insulting him or whether he gave up trying to stop him. It should be possible with appropriate orders, but how would one define an insult? A normal word could be used as an insult if the intention was there. Maybe Father tried but ended up rendering Vlad mute. Or maybe-</p><p>Quick movement on the roof and Kurtis tensed, all thoughts about priests and demons and insults fleeing his mind.</p><p>There was Lara, sliding near the edge of the roof, her back towards it, and the next moment a little cannonball on two legs crashed into her knees in full stumbling sprint. Lara bent down and caught her, but their balance was thrown off and Kurtis raised one hand, giving them a quick push. Lara turned on her heel so the gravity that took over after Kurtis’ telekinesis deposited Lara on her butt, with Rosie in her lap.</p><p>“You both alright?” Kurtis called, adrenaline running through his veins. Damn they really almost fell!</p><p>“I’m sorry, is that...” Father Patrick’s words petered off in disbelief.</p><p>Vlad found words easily. “Not just the child, but the tiny infant too! Ha, this should be entertaining!”</p><p>“It’s definitely not!” Kurtis, if anyone asked, would absolutely deny the heights his voice had just risen to.</p><p>“Hm, oh, Vlad?” came from the roof. Lara looked over the edge. “Father Patrick? What a… a surprise.” She sounded a little out of breath. How long had she been chasing Rosie up there? And how hadn’t she caught her sooner?</p><p>“Please don’t call the CPS,” Kurtis groaned, heart thumping in his ribcage.</p><p>“Construction Plant Services?” Father Patrick asked in confusion.</p><p>“The Crown Prosecution Service?” Lara wondered out loud, still a little out of it, clutching Rosie tightly to her body.</p><p>“Child Protection Services, you imbeciles,” Vlad huffed.</p><p>“How does the centuries old Russian demon, out of you all, know these things?” Kurtis asked, not really needing an answer, he just felt that as long as they were talking he could postpone the full weight of the realization what had almost happened. It also gave him time to get his blood pressure back under control.</p><p>“American TV shows, I’m sure,” Father Patrick answered anyway.</p><p>“Okay I guess that makes sense,” Kurtis said lightly. His eyes had not strayed from Lara and Rosie for a second.</p><p>“I think we’ll climb down,” Lara announced in a measured voice. Oh yeah, she was definitely shaken too.</p><p>“Good idea,” Kurtis agreed. “Do you need help or...”</p><p>“No, I can do it,” Lara refused, but the brief pause before she gave her answer was very telling.</p><p>She was climbing the ladder slowly, Rosie held closely with one arm snaked around her little body, and only when both of Lara’s feet touched the frost-covered ground did Kurtis let out a breath he didn’t know he’d been holding. He marched up the them, looking Rosie over. She was smiling at him with no care in the world, her cheeks a little flushed but otherwise just as he’d seen her before he’d handed her over to Lara.</p><p>Lara, who was still clutching their daughter rather more tightly than strictly necessary. The only reason Kurtis could hold it against her was that he had a strong urge to hold Rosie instead, to not just see but also feel that she was okay. In the end he put one hand on Lara’s shoulder and with the other caressed Rosie’s rosy cheek.</p><p>“How good to see you all hale and healthy,” Father Patrick said with humour in his voice. Kurtis wondered if he was actually gonna call whatever was the British version of CPS.</p><p>“Yeah, uh, we don’t usually do this and we’re not doing it again,” he announced, with the last part aimed pointedly at Lara.</p><p>“Not for several years at the very least,” Lara agreed drily, but she wasn’t totally back to normal, there was still some strain to her words. “Several, well, maybe ten, or twenty.”</p><p>“Sounds good,” Kurtis nodded a few times.</p><p>They started walking towards the front door. “So what brings you here anyway?” Kurtis asked Father Patrick, in another attempt to make himself think of safer topics. “If you two came for Christmas, it’s pretty early, though I guess it’s no big deal...”</p><p>“I’m afraid I won’t be able to stay for Christmas, I will be busy as always,” the priest informed him mildly, “but I had some unexpected free time now and thought I might let Vlad come early, taking the trip with him to at least see you for a short while. I apologize for not announcing our arrival beforehand.”</p><p>“Yeah that’s fine,” Kurtis waved her hand. “I mean, good to see you both.”</p><p>“Hm, is it?” Father Patrick asked, with not so subtle glance at Vlad.</p><p>Huh? Vlad was okay. Definitely okay for a demon. Was he still worried Vlad might hurt Rosie somehow? Nothing had happened last year, when they’d had to nearly blackmail Father Patrick into sending Vlad to Surrey at all.</p><p>Kurtis shrugged. “Sure. And I think the Lady of the house agrees.”</p><p>“Hm?” Lara turned distractedly after a second. “Ah, yes. You are both welcome here.”</p><p>Kurtis didn’t want to deprive Lara of the physical assurance that Rosie was okay, but he also wondered how long she would be okay if he let Lara clutch her so tight for much longer, so after he opened door and let them all in – even the horse, because whatever, he waved a hand when Father Patrick pointed to the four-legged demon – he reached for his daughter.</p><p>“I’ll get her out of the clothes.”</p><p>Lara shot him a look he’d only seen when someone was after a priceless artefact in her possession – and maybe this wasn’t far off, actually – but then she caught herself, closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “Of course,” she handed Rosie over. That little jerk in her arms indicated that she was tempted to take her back before she was even really out of her hands.</p><p>The feeling of Rosie in his arms untangled a knot in his stomach he’d been ignoring the past few minutes. He held her close, she was squirming a little but not complaining vocally yet so he couldn’t help himself. “Be right back,” he breathed out. Before he turned to walk away, he saw the commiserating look Lara gave him.</p><p>Yep, this incident was going right to the top of the list. <em>Above</em> the fireplace.</p><hr/><p>When Kurtis came back down, he made his way to the salon, where predictably, Lara, Father Patrick and Vlad were sitting at a round table, waiting for their tea. It was easy to tell Winston was already at it, because the horse was nowhere, meaning someone invested in the floors had put their foot down to get the animal out.</p><p>He handed Rosie to Lara, who set her on her lap. “Would you like to have some tea with us?”</p><p>“Sure,” Kurtis shrugged. Lara seemed calmer now, but he could still see certain tenseness in the way she she asked him, too prim and distracted. Maybe she needed some other distraction, to move her mind away from this – with Rosie in reach as reassurance, of course. “So, Father, how long are you staying? We didn’t have time to pick a tree yet, if you’d like to stay for that. And for cutting it down. And taking it back here and decorating it...”</p><p>“I will have to leave by tomorrow, sadly, which might not be enough time,” Father Patrick smiled politely.</p><p>“We can go choose the tree now,” Lara offered, “after we finish out tea. It’s probably too early to cut it down yet though.”</p><p>“Right, Vlad’s here pretty early this year,” Kurtis hummed in thought. “There probably aren’t any tree thieves around yet.”</p><p>“Tree thieves?” Father Patrick asked.</p><p>“In my forest,” Lara elaborated. “Vlad is really good at… chasing them out.”</p><p>“Ah. I see.”</p><p>“But because it’s early and there’s no reason for it yet,” Lara tapped her chin with one finger. “We will need to find something else so Vlad won’t get bored. Unless of course,” she glanced at the demon, “you wouldn’t mind the same pastimes as us humans.”</p><p>“Singing carols?” Verdilet snorted.</p><p>“And decorating the house, maybe helping Winston with baking if there’s any hitch...” Kurtis added. “Can’t clean the road if there’s no snow… oh but cleaning in general, because Winston is busy baking.”</p><p>Now Verdilet looked rather disgusted.</p><p>“Feels like home,” Father Patrick smiled widely and Verdilet shot him a nasty glare.</p><p>“Right,” Lara nodded, “you must have practice with household chores. But this should be more… enjoyable, considering the decorating part of the chores. There is also more people, me, Kurtis, Marie when she arrives, possibly Zip, and Morgau should be here soon as well...”</p><p>“Possibly,” Kurtis laughed.</p><p>“I don’t force guests to help with chores, they just usually offer,” Lara shrugged innocently. “Jean-Yves and Putai too, to a lesser extent.”</p><p>“Am I a guest?” Verdilet crossed his arms.</p><p>Lara and Kurtis looked at each other. That was… a good question. He was never really invited, but accepted as the one arriving anyway. So…</p><p>“Yes, explicitly invited or not, you are a guest,” Lara confirmed.</p><p>“I’m not doing chores then,” Verdilet frowned.</p><p>“Well, Verdilet, that’s not very nice.” There was subtle threat to Father Patrick voice, beneath the pleasant tone, and an explicit threat in the fact that he used Verdilet’s real name. The way Verdilet tensed was more than obvious.</p><p>“It’s fine,” Lara shifted Rosie on her lap, the little girl had been trying to reach for one of the cups on the table. “A guest is a guest. I would rather prefer to be a proper host.”</p><p>“Well I don’t know what Father has at home, but we have a pretty neat home cinema, if that’s what’d interest you,” Kurtis offered, remembering Verdilet’s TV show knowledge. The demon also seemed to perk up at those words.</p><p>“Hmm, that would interest me...”</p><p>Father Patrick sighed and shook his head, but didn’t argue.</p><p>It was decided.</p>
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